Sage North America plans to launch Sage Connect, a portal for accountants and their clients that is designed to enable them to collaborate via the Internet, along with providing other functionality such as some document management capabilities.
A description of the plan was offered today the Sage Insights conference by
Connie Certusi, the VP who leads the company's low-end software efforts. Sage made a flurry of announcements as part of its effort to re-engage with accounting firms.
"It [Sage Connect] can be branded by the accountant or by the client, Certusi noted. Sage Connect will offer secure file transfer along with document storage. There will also be the capability for accountants to send messages to accountants, such as requesting information missing from a tax return.
The portal can be used by anyone, according to product manager Jared Smith. "It's product agnostic," he said. He noted that it will be offered for free to members of the Sage Accountants Network. No plans have yet been made for selling it outside of that network.
Accountants will be able to setup notices to clients for recurring events, such as information needed for quarterly filings. They will also be able to set up types of files that they are requests from clients.
